It Takes Time
by MoonlightGardenias
Summary: In which Luke and Lorelai find their way back to each other. One shot, set post series.


**Author's note:** This was written as a Christmas gift for my greatest fandom friend, Cara. Here's hoping you like your gift. Much love, friend. *hugs*

I should add that this is the first thing not Nashville related I've written in a long time, so I'm a bit rusty. Apologies if it's a bit OOC, especially on Luke's end. Also, this is unbetaed, so any mistakes found are my own. Please know I've tried my best to catch them all, but with all of the technology issues I've had as of late, it's possible a scarce few are still to be found.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. If I did, the movie would have happened already. I just like to take the characters out to play.

* * *

It happens slowly at first. After the night of Rory's big send off, it takes some time before Lorelai's certain about just where she and Luke stand. She shows up to the diner nearly every morning for the next week, and the one day she doesn't results in him saying he'd already saved the last danish for her, only to have to give it up to Kirk when it became clear she wasn't coming. Besides that, they stay on their own sides of the line, neither of them bringing up the kiss that happened the night before Rory left.

It's not that she hasn't wanted to. In fact, she stopped in once after leaving the Inn for the night, only to be interrupted by Rory's calling and giving another update about the campaign trail. If Luke knew what she was on the verge of saying before they were interrupted, he didn't show it, perhaps feeling her daughter took a higher level of importance at that moment.

Two weeks after Rory leaves, something happens that helps put them in the same room long enough to at least attempt the sort of conversation they've been dancing around. She calls him, flustered, as she tries to explain a leak she stupidly decided to fix, only her solution involved duct tape and other things that decided not to work.

"I'm sorry Luke, I know the diner is busy, and I would've called someone else, but I just thought-"

"It's fine," he says, throwing the rag he'd been wiping down a table with on the counter. "I can have Caesar cover for me for a bit. Just, um...just don't try and fix anything else 'til I get there."

Though it takes him longer than expected, he's able to patch up the leak well enough to tide her over until he can come and give it a more permanent solution.

Lorelai watches, leaning against the counter and nursing a cup of coffee. "Thank you," she says, taking a large sip before continuing, eyes staring into the mug rather than up at him. "I guess...I guess a part of me just thought if I ignored it long enough, maybe it would go away. Maybe somehow it would just get better."

Without really trying to, she steers the conversation in a more serious direction, because while she may have just been talking about a leak in her kitchen, a part of her is fully aware this is the first time they've been back in the house together in a very long time.

"Thank you, again. Also, for...for everything you did for Rory. For that whole party. I know I said it then, but I mean it, Luke. That even after everything, you'd be willing to go through with planning all of that. It's great."

Luke shrugs it off like it's nothing. "I knew you wanted to send her off in a big way, you know? After everything she's done for this town, she deserves it." He rubs the back of his neck and shifts his weight, uncomfortable but also knowing it needs to be said. "But I also mean what I said. As much as I did it for her, it was for you, too. I like seeing you happy."

She smiles sadly and nods. She draws in a deep breath, steeling herself at last to approach what she's wanted to ask ever since it happened. "So, when you kissed me, that was just wanting me to be happy?"

"Well, yeah. I guess," Luke says, turning to collect the tools he brought with him. He remains quiet, knowing full well how much his answer means and what she's getting at. Seeing her back in the diner again, a plead for coffee and whatever food she's craving at the time on her lips rather than a simple accusation or worse, actually ignoring him point blank, has been enough. Until he realizes that it's not. "Actually, you know what?" he says, turning back around. He places his tool box and the table and takes a few careful steps closer to where she's standing. "It was because of that. But the truth is, at least for me, it was more than that."

The air slowly seeps out of the room. They've been on the edge of this, pretending they don't notice it until finally, now, they have the option of simply jumping over the edge. "It was?"

"I was mad at you. For a long time. A part of me thought I'd never get over it, that I'd always feel like there was just this wall, blocking me from getting past that. But that's not true, because if I'm being honest, I love you. Still. Again. Whatever."

Lorelai laughs, unable to stop herself. She reaches out, playfully punching his arm. "You're a real romantic there, Luke Danes."

"You know me. You know I'm not good at this stuff. But, um...I do. I mean it."

She knows he has to leave, that the diner can never survive without him for long, but she doesn't care. She kisses him, tentative at first, until he wraps an arm around her waist. When they pull back, she rests her forehead against his, nodding as if confirming it for herself before voicing it out loud. "I mean it, too."

He leaves a few minutes later with a promise to return when the diner closes, and he makes good on his word, complete with a sack of burgers and fries among other things he knows she likes. They don't talk much, at least not about anything serious, but when he puts his arm on the back of the couch, casually wrapping it around her, Lorelai continues watching the movie she arbitrarily picked and doesn't pull away.

Several weeks pass. Conversations happen that have been a long time coming. No one yells, or they try not to anyhow, but sometimes the words said in hushed tones laced with tears hurt all the more.

"I just wish you would've told me, that we could've done more to make it work," Luke says, sitting next to Lorelai on the front steps.

Lorelai nods, nudging him with her knee. A tear slips out unnoticed and she sighs. "We can. And I wish it, too. I do. So much, Luke. If it weren't for me screwing it up, we could've-"

"Hey, no. Don't say that," Luke says, interrupting her. He pauses for a second, grasping her hand with his. "Yeah, you messed things up. But so did I. You're not allowed to take all the blame. Got it?"

"Yeah," she says, clinging to his hand like a lifeline. "God, Luke. How did we get here?" she asks, blinking back unshed tears as she stares up at the darkened sky. "I know we did things and we said things, and those things were big and huge and maybe unforgivable, but still. It's like for so long there's been this block in the road. I mean, not really. It's metaphorical, but you get my point," she halts, looking at him, taken back for a second at how close he's sitting. "It just doesn't feel like that block's there stopping us now. Not anymore."

Luke reaches up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's not," he says, answering a question she doesn't have to ask. He pulls back somewhat, leaning forward with his arms resting on his knees as he looks over at her. "And for the record? It's forgivable. All of it. I'm just sorry it took me this long to say it."

She closes her eyes, listening as his voice cracks at the last bit. He's not the type to just lay himself bare, and she knows it takes him a lot to be so open. Because of this, she simply leans into his side, content in being quiet for a few moments. When she finally does speak, it's to invite him inside. "I uh, I've got ice cream. I know, that's not really your thing. But you could come and watch me eat it? I've been known to devour whole cartons in one sitting." Lorelai closes her eyes, feeling as the laugh he lets out vibrates through his chest. "So is it a yes then?"

"Yeah, it is," he says, standing as she does. He waits for her to open the door, and walks in behind her, letting out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

Weeks turn into months. More often than not, he finds himself coming over after work, sometimes not slipping out until the early hours when he goes to open the diner. They don't tell anyone in Stars Hollow, at least not at first, for fear of how they might react. They'd gone through it all before, and the last thing either of them wanted was the pressure of everyone watching their every move any time they were together. Eventually however, Babette spots Lorelai kissing him on the front porch. She gives her a knowing look before slipping back inside. When Lorelai drops by Luke's for coffee later that day, she sees her at a table with Miss Patty and fears being roped into a conversation, but all she hears is Patty muttering "Well, if you ask me, it's about time" as she walks by.

It's Rory who points out an interesting shift that they've either pretended to ignore or simply haven't addressed. Home for a few days off the road, she arrives while Lorelai's busy at the Inn and finds telling clues, so she can't resist calling her.

"Why would you assume he lives there? He doesn't...we..."

"Mom. There are leafy, green vegetables in the fridge. The book that was balancing the table leg the last time I was here is gone. Oh, and a flannel on the couch. Please tell me I don't have to sanitize the thing before sitting on it."

"We didn't. Well, we did. A lot, but not on-"

"_Mom_." Rory waits, hoping she'd offer confirmation on a less, well, descriptive level. "I knew that you two were talking again, ever since the night of the party, but I'd no idea I'd come home to find categorical evidence that he's, you know, back."

The line is quiet as Lorelai thinks of how best to respond. "He's Luke. Even when we weren't talking, a part of him was always there. But to answer your question, yeah. He is."

Later that night, they all eat dinner while Rory fills them in on details of the road. Lorelai catches herself watching Luke, who asks Rory questions, clearly interested in the answers she gives. One of the things she's always loved about him is his love of Rory, and she's glad that's one thing that's never changed. Later when her daughter slips off to her room, she finds enough courage to approach the subject. She starts by talking about how much of his stuff is already there, and how it almost makes sense.

"You don't have to. There's still your place above the diner. I'm not saying you have to _move in_ move in. Just, well, you can have more of your stuff here. If you want."

Luke smiles, standing up from the kitchen table with plate in hand. They've been careful about taking things slow, but if he's being honest, he doesn't want that anymore. He kisses her and nods. "I do."

They both insist on taking everything slowly, although at some points Lorelai feels they've never gone slower. On the nights he has to stay at his place due to early deliveries, she finds herself staying up later, pretending the bed doesn't feel emptier without him there. Truthfully though, she knows no one could ever fill her life in every way as he has.

It takes over a year of taking things slow before he knows it's time. He plans it out, more than she ever might have expected from him, but given everything they've been through she deserves it. Despite that, he finds himself tucked in bed, limbs tangled with hers, and throws whatever plans he might've had away without really meaning to. "Marry me," he whispers against the skin of her shoulder.

The words are quiet and maybe he didn't actually mean to say them, at least not yet, but Lorelai rolls to face him, cupping his cheek with one hand, relishing in the stubble that prickles her palm. "Yes."

She doesn't know how much later it is, some time after they've managed to pull themselves out of bed long enough for her to call Rory and for him to tell Caesar he wouldn't make it in until much later, but she collapses against the couch cushions upon a thought hitting her.

"What?" Luke asks, worry crossing his features.

"It's just, this day is perfect. And it's good. And you and me finally getting all this figured out is good. I just can't help but think that now we have to tell my mother. You know she has a sixth sense about things I don't want her to know about, right?"

He sits beside her and gives her shoulder a squeeze. "I guess we do. We can keep it secret from her for a few days though, right?"

"Have you not met her? It's like she has a radar," Lorelai replies, curling into his side once again. "But yeah, I think we can do that for now." She kisses his chest and hears his steady heartbeat; can smell the coffee he brewed sometime during her call with Rory, and for the first time in a long while, feels completely content.


End file.
